Head Start Evaluation and Research Center, University of Kansas. Report No. V, a Comparative Behavioral Analysis of Peer-Group Influence Techniques in Head Start and Middle Class Populations.

Rosenfeld, Howard M.; Russell, Richard L.

Thirty-eight preschool children were subjects in this investigation. They were paired on the basis of similarity of sex and dissimilarity of socioeconomic level. Reward for completion of six puzzles was based on cooperation between the partners and, for another six, on competition between them. The data of this study consisted of (a) the content of the interaction between partners, (b) the locus of their visual orientation, and (c) the amount of time each subject took to complete a puzzle. The results indicated that interaction was primarily through (1) verbal demands, (2) physical takings, (3) complying, and (4) offers. Middle class (MC) subjects tended to take more while lower class (LC) subjects complied less than their opposites. LC girls manifested the most total acts. In terms of visual orientation, there appeared no significant difference between the two socioeconomic groups. The MC subjects won the most puzzle completion contests and their success was due to speed. The success of the LC subjects was related to total frequency of task-relevant acts. The reward condition sequence, cooperation for the first six puzzles and competition for the second six puzzles, or vice versa, had an effect on all three variables, (a), (b), and (c), mentioned above. (WD)